Date:         Sun, 3 Oct 1999 20:04:39 -0400
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@IBM.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@IBM.NET>
Subject:      Re: Rear Wheel Bearings
Comments: To: RAlanen@AOL.COM
In-Reply-To:  <830d859b.2528ec52@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

Frank, (nice to meet you and your daughter, btw), I have an '84 and it has
the new 10-slot nuts on it, so you shouldn't have to worry with an '87.  By
my reckoning, VIN 25ZBHetc. would be sometime in 1981 (it's the B that's
significant -- the Z and H come in the positions that Bentley shows just as
underscores).

As to the wrench, this is not for everyone, but I got a tool from Bus Depot
that has ears you're supposed to hammer on to remove the nut, then a
half-inch-drive hole for a torque wrench.  I had two problems with it --
one, it was tough to hit the ears on this fairly short wrench without
involving the wheel; and two, even with the offset I didn't have a torque
wrench strong enough to put it back.

I took that tool and welded it to the end of a thickish (1 cm, maybe?)
strip of plate I found in a railroad scrapyard.  It was maybe 1 1/2 meters
long by a few inches wide and the whole thing weighed about 11kg.  Standing
on the end of that and jouncing gently opened it right up.  For tightening,
I calculated the distance from the center for various forces to result in
the proper torque, and ground little notches in the edge of the bar.  I
then made a stirrup that would hang from the notches and got my wife to
stand at the appropriate point.  Worked like a charm, except it scraped the
paint at the fender flare.  So (too late for this time around) I heated and
bent it so it's offset an inch or two as it goes by the fender.

Major disadvantage is it's a 6-point hole which means large angle changes
between flats on the nut.  But it worked and I'm confident of the torque
value.  It was easy to move up to the next slot by having her stand a
little farther out on the wrench.  Useful range of weight turned out to be
about 65-90 kg or so, as more (like my roughly 110kg) was too far in on the
wrench.

david
David Beierl - Providence, RI
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"